Merlin Memory Month 2019
by Mischel
Summary: A series of oneshots for #MerlinMemoryMonth on tumblr, which is a prompt fest to remember and celebrate the british tv show Merlin (BBC). Prompt Days are every Thursday and Sunday, so you can expect a new chapter then, starting Thursday May 2nd.
1. Prompt Day 1 - May 2nd

**Hello, everyone! It's been a while, but I'm back with a fanfic written for the Merlin Memory Month! _Merlin Memory Month_ is a prompt fest on Tumblr to celebrate the show, and if you remember I participated in 2017. Basically, there are 9 posting days and each has three prompts. I'll try to write a short fanfic for each posting day. They should be all standalone, but I also tried to connect them a little bit (they're not written yet though, so we'll see).**

PROMPT DAY 1  
path 1 - Contrasts and/or Similarities  
path 2 - Emotion/Mood/Aesthetic: Mighty  
path 3 - A heart opened / A heart broken

**\- For this fanfic I used the prompts "contrasts", "mighty" and "a heart opened". I hope you'll enjoy it! :)**

**\- SUMMARY: **The moment that Arthur falls in love with Merlin for the first time.

...

**A HEART OPENED**

...

It had been a week since Merlin finally came clean and told Arthur that he had magic and Arthur had yet to see any display of Merlin's magical abilities. It had also been a very busy week, so there simply had been no time for any magic tricks and to be honest Arthur was surprised Merlin even chose to tell him his secret. They'd been close friends for many years now, and even though it certainly hadn't been easy for Arthur to come to terms with the fact that Merlin had been lying to him, in the end he chose to accept him and to not tell his father. He didn't even really have a choice in that matter because what would his father do? He'd order to execute Merlin immediately, and Arthur simply couldn't lose him.

The busy week climaxed on a Saturday when a nearby kingdom decided Camelot was too weak to defend itself after Morgana had betrayed them because Uther spent all of his days in his chair, barely moving. So there he was, in a forest near the Camelot borders, fighting for his life, killing one enemy knight after another.

Merlin was naturally by his side, not ever leaving him and presumably using his magic to get rid of the enemies subtly here and there - something that only now Arthur started to realize Merlin had been doing for years.

But there was a lot of enemy soldiers and not quite that many of Camelot knights. Arthur looked around and only spotted Merlin and two other knights fighting nearby, slowly moving farther away from them. The rest of their knights must have stayed fighting in the field behind the trees then.

Swords clashed together and with gritted teeth, Arthur defended Camelot. But it only took one short moment of hesitation when his eyes caught glimpse of Merlin's hands glowing, and his sword was knocked out of his grip, landing too far away from him.

Arthur's eyes widened as the knight he was fighting grinned and used his leg to trip Arthur up - and the crowned prince of Camelot found himself on the ground, unarmed and surprised.

Naturally, he reached for his dagger, but he wasn't fast enough and the sword almost pierced him if he hadn't quickly moved out of its way. His dagger flew out of his hand and his shoulder hit a huge rock - there was nowhere else to go.

His eyes widened as he stared death in the face.

Then he heard a voice, piercing through the deafening sound of his heartbeat.

"Arthur!"

And there he was. His saviour, a sorcerer - Merlin. Arthur didn't even have the time to comprehend what was happening when he saw a fireball hit the knight into his chest, making him lose balance and fall over.

It all happened in a second.

The time almost seemed to slow down as Arthur turned his head to look at Merlin, who was now standing next to him, his arms prepared to strike again, his eyes glowing bright gold and his chest heaving with deep determined breaths. He looked angry as he was looking at the knight, but the man wasn't moving anymore. He might have even been dead, slain by magic in a land where magic was outlawed. Merlin's face turned into worry as his eyes found Arthur's. The sun illuminated his hair, half of his face and his eyes that slowly turned back to blue, and if Arthur was being completely honest, at that moment, Merlin looked like an angel.

He was someone else. He wasn't his weak but smart and friendly servant, he was a powerful, _mighty_ sorcerer who was ready to kill just to save Arthur - a mere prince compared to the power that Merlin wielded. There were many princes in the world, but looking at Merlin at that moment, Arthur was sure that there was only one Merlin in the entire universe.

And he chose to be _here._ Out of all the places where he could have chosen to live, he chose _Camelot_. He chose to serve him and help him and stay here even though the slightest mistake could end up killing him. He risked his life every day and every minute, and for what? For him?

"Are you alright?" Merlin stepped closer to him and offered his hand.

Arthur stared at him, unblinking, admiring the new person that was in front of him - a person that Merlin chose to reveal to him. The most loyal and selfless person in the world.

He nodded. "Yeah."

He took Merlin's hand and squeezed, getting up from the ground. Merlin smiled at him then as he let go of his hand. "Let's save Camelot then." He nodded at him and turned around, facing more knights, fighting alongside Arthur.

And Arthur just stood there, his chest filling up with this warm feeling of gratitude, admiration and _love_. This was a moment that would change his life forever, and he was slowly realizing just that, as he watched his friend fight for him and their kingdom without any fear.

Arthur picked up his sword from the ground and with a smile, ran to help Merlin save Camelot. Their home.

*the end*

**I hope you liked the fic! Please consider leaving a review, thanks! Another chapter should come out this Sunday :)**


	2. Prompt Day 2 - May 5th

**I'm back with another chapter as promised! You can read this story as a new standalone oneshot, or if you read the previous chapter, you can read this one as a sort of continuation :) I hope you'll like it!**

PROMPT DAY 2  
Path 1 - Pining  
Path 2 - Emotion/Mood/Aesthetic: Eerie  
Path 3 - A limit respected / A line overstepped

**\- For this fanfic I used the prompts "pining", "eerie" and "a limit respected".**

**\- SUMMARY: **Merlin and Arthur have been travelling for days, and they stop at an old watchtower for the night. It starts raining and as they're hiding inside, they realize that there's something between them that neither of them talks about, but that can no longer be ignored. What will happen once they both finally admit their feelings?

...

**HOPES AND PROMISES**

...

They had been travelling for four days now, and it was getting rather late. The birds slowly stopped singing, the sun hid behind the mountains in the distance and thick clouds covered the sky, bringing a promise of a night rain. It was summer, warm weather even during the night, greenery everywhere. And yet, they hadn't found a place to spend the night.

Maybe it was because they weren't particularly tired. Maybe it was because for the past hour they had both been lost in a pleasant conversation which neither of them wanted to put an end to.

When the crickets started chirping though, both Merlin and Arthur knew it was time for sleep. Thankfully, within a couple of minutes, they came across an old tower. It wasn't very high nor safe by the looks of it, but the roof was still intact and could shield them from the rain.

"It looks like we found ourselves a place for tonight," Merlin commented as he stopped walking and looked the tower up and down. "An old watchtower? Maybe?"

Arthur nodded. "From the looks of it."

The first raindrop landed on his forehead.

"Come on, then. Better not get wet."

They approached the door - it looked just as old and potentially fragile, but when Arthur tried to open it, it was locked.

Thunder sounded in the distance.

Arthur fiddled with the lock using his dagger, but it held.

"Wait, I'll do it," Merlin covered Arthur's hand with his and Arthur stepped aside, putting his dagger back into its scabbard. He watched as Merlin reached out his hand and said, "_Tospringe._"

The lock immediately flew apart and the door opened on its own. Arthur stared at it and at Merlin's power in wonder.

"See? Easy." Merlin grinned at him and didn't even wait before he stepped inside.

Arthur couldn't help but smile fondly at that, because yes - there used to be times when Arthur would be jealous or annoyed over Merlin making it seem like opening the lock was easy, especially when it hadn't been easy for Arthur when he tried. But now? After everything they'd been through, after everything Arthur had seen Merlin manage to do even without his magic before he revealed it to Arthur . . . he couldn't help but admire Merlin. Not only for his power, no, but for the person that he was.

For the person that he'd fallen in love with. Yes, it was more often love than admiration that Arthur felt, but Merlin knew that. And Arthur knew that too.

When the sound of falling raindrops became louder than his own thoughts, Arthur finally entered the tower.

It was dark, just like it was outside. But something about the place made Arthur feel almost welcome. It was nice to be between walls again after days of spending the nights outside without a proper bed, even though Arthur was sure there was no real bed in this tower either.

"Merlin?" he called out when he realized there was silence for a bit too long.

"Here."

Merlin's eyes shone bright gold in the darkness as he used his magic - Arthur could never get tired of watching that - and Merlin's palm lit up with a little orb of gentle white light.

"That's useful," Arthur remarked.

He closed the door now that they had a light to guide them, and then he looked around the place. It was a narrow tower, only about four meters in diameter, but there was still a little, even narrower, staircase that was going up.

As well as a bunch of torches on the wall along the stairs.

"We can also use those," Arthur pointed at the torches that Merlin only now noticed. His eyes flashed gold again and they all lit up at once.

"Should we go upstairs?" Merlin asked as he stared up to where the stairs were leading. It was a spiral staircase, so he couldn't see much, but there was dark, despite all the torches.

"There's not enough space down here, so we'll have to."

"Alright, then," Merlin nodded but didn't move.

Arthur smirked. "Should I go first?"

Merlin gave him a look. "It's fine," he added as he looked up at the stairs again.

"We'll go together, then," Arthur stepped forward, smiling despite his best effort not to.

He started walking up the stairs and Merlin followed closely behind, the orb of white light dissipating into the air as Arthur walked by. It wasn't even a long staircase, but the atmosphere somewhat changed. The uncertainty of what lay ahead made Arthur feel, well, uncertain. Maybe a little anxious. But Merlin was there with him, in fact, he was almost pressed against his back. Arthur wasn't sure if he appreciated that, but nevertheless, the realization made him pause.

Their hands brushed against each other, a fact that didn't escape either of them.

Merlin cleared his throat. "Are you scared, Arthur Pendragon?"

Arthur's reaction was immediate. He pulled his hand closer to his body, away from Merlin, frowning. "Of course not, don't be ridiculous, Merlin."

But he didn't move forward.

The whole atmosphere, the obvious history of this place, felt _eerie._ Arthur was a warrior, he wasn't scared. But his instincts ruled his mind and he didn't want to walk them into danger. What if there was someone hiding up there and they were even more powerful than Merlin?

Merlin's hand found its way into Arthur's, and their fingers intertwined, finally putting an end to the pretending that had been going on for weeks. They both knew what they wanted, they both knew _something_ was there between them, an obvious and quite unbreakable bond.

"Let's go then, my prince," Merlin told him, squeezing his hand and moving two steps forward to stand next to Arthur.

Arthur looked at him, and their eyes locked.

Merlin smiled and then looked away, facing the dark and uncertainty in front of them. Arthur returned the smile and together, they went up the stairs. With another whisper of an ancient language, all the torches on the walls of the room they entered lit up, illuminating their new surroundings.

It was a little room with a couple of narrow windows on the walls all around them. There was an old broken table with only two legs, and three chairs lying around. One of them had an old beige blanket thrown over it. Other than that though, no danger. No evil sorcerer waiting for them. Nothing. Just a quiet old room with a few spiderwebs, and pouring rain outside.

And their hands. Their hands were still joined.

It made Arthur's heart beat faster.

That was the moment that Merlin chose to let go and walk into the little room. "This doesn't look so bad, does it?" He walked to the window and looked out briefly. He probably couldn't see much because of the rain and the dark. "We could spend the night." He turned to Arthur with a hopeful smile.

"Yeah," Arthur answered. His voice sounded less strong than what he expected and he had to clear his throat. He didn't like being confronted with his feelings and with Merlin, who was the reason for his feelings, at the same time, in a dark room at night. It made him feel . . . even more things. Things he probably shouldn't even be thinking now, when they both needed to rest if they wanted to reach Camelot by the next day's evening.

Merlin sat down on the ground, his back facing the wall that separated the room from the stairs. He patted the space next to him, inviting Arthur to sit down there with a smile.

Which Arthur did, without hesitation. He probably should have hesitated, but his heart was yelling at him, making him ridiculously aware of every detail of Merlin's movements, and it yelled even harder when he sat down, rendering him unable to think properly.

"This is far from the worst place that we've spent a night in," Merlin said. "Probably the scariest." He looked at the broken furniture with cobwebs on it and raised his eyebrows. "Not the worst though."

"Remember the cave?" Arthur miraculously found something sensible to add to the conversation.

"Which one?" Merlin joked as he laughed. "There was so many of them, so many cold nights over the years."

But Arthur knew that Merlin was aware of which cave he was referring to. Two weeks ago. Another rainy night, unusually cold for the beginning of summer and no fire because of the wind. Arthur hadn't known about Merlin's magic back then. And so they shared their body warmth and slept closely together, chest to chest. It was then when Arthur had realized he couldn't escape his feelings and he could not hide them from himself either. He couldn't have been sure, but the way that Merlin had kept looking at him, told him that Merlin was right there with him, struggling with the same feelings.

They never talked about it.

Until now.

"You know which cave I'm talking about," Arthur said carefully, quietly.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to go there yet, to _talk_ about what he, what _they_ were feeling, but he felt like he had to. They held hands. And Merlin started it. That meant something to Arthur, and he wanted more of that.

Merlin was quiet, his humour suddenly gone. He didn't look at Arthur, instead, he put his hands together and his eyes flashed gold. A little blue, glowing butterfly flew out from between his palms and circled the room.

Arthur watched the little creature and his chest filled with the familiar warm feeling of love.

He just wished Merlin didn't try to avoid it.

Merlin's eyes followed the butterfly for a moment and then he looked down. "I do," he said. "I remember that night."

The butterfly sat on one of the chairs, away from the cobwebs and slowly opened and closed its little wings.

Arthur looked away and at Merlin. "What do you remember about it?"

Merlin sighed. Their thighs brushed and Arthur shivered, already thinking about what Merlin's answer would be.

The warlock finally looked up and at Arthur, his eyes so bright and hopeful, and _scared_, the fire from the torches reflected in them. "Everything." He shrugged. "I remember everything about it, every damn thing, Arthur."

"I remember how nice it felt," Arthur said, bravely.

Merlin gave him a half-smile. "I remember that, too."

If Arthur couldn't escape this, maybe he should just move forward and act. Do something before Merlin looked away. But he felt like his entire body froze at the moment, paralyzed by hesitation and worry, and _fear._ He'd never felt like this. Maybe that was what scared him. The fact that his feelings were requited.

But then Merlin's eyes dropped down to Arthur's lips and his body _unfroze_, telling him there was only one thing to do. He saw Merlin swallow as he leaned forward. He was mere centimetres away from an explosion of all his desires, when-

Merlin put his fingers on Arthur's lips.

He swallowed again, his eyes now sparkling more than before, slightly wet. Arthur frowned at that and moved away, suddenly ashamed.

But he had to ask. "What's wrong?"

Merlin pursed his lips and stared at Arthur's, before looking up and meeting his eyes. "Gwen," he whispered.

Oh.

Arthur could almost feel how his mind completely unlocked in that moment, granting access, and he realized - he'd completely forgotten about her. He thought he was in love with her, and yet he'd forgotten about her.

"I'm sorry," Merlin told him. His voice was weak. "But she's my friend. I can't do that to her."

Arthur was silent for a moment as he nodded. Guinevere was one of the best and most honest people that he'd ever met, and he cared about her. He couldn't do that to her either, he would never forgive himself.

"I understand," he nodded.

This time he even heard Merlin swallow. He looked at him and Merlin took his hand into his. "Don't be mistaken, I want this." He gestured with his other hand in between them.

"I want this, too," Arthur admitted. After the attempt at a kiss, it was fairly obvious, but he still had to voice it, make sure that Merlin knew. He had thought he was in love with Gwen, but that was before he realized his feelings for Merlin. They were stronger than everything else in his life, and with that information, Arthur made a decision. "I'll talk to her."

Merlin squeezed his hand, already looking away. "Be gentle."

Arthur nodded. "I will."

The butterfly started flying again and landed on their joined hands, flapping its wings and then finally settling on the ground in front of them, for the rest of the night.

"Good night, Arthur," Merlin said as he lay down on the ground, his hand still firmly clasping Arthur's.

Arthur lay down next to him, so many thoughts still circling through his mind that he wondered whether he would even fall asleep that night. But Merlin was right there next to him, with him, and as long as Merlin was there, there was a promise.

"Good night, Merlin."

The rain got slowly quieter, and despite his worries, Arthur drifted off within mere minutes. His dreams were pleasant that night - full of promises, and hopes for the future.

*the end*

**I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading! Next chapter will come out this Thursday :)**


	3. Prompt Day 3 - May 9th

**The next fanfic is here! Again, you can read it as a standalone oneshot or as a continuation of what happened in previous chapters. It's short, but I hope you'll like it! :) And I also made art for the prompt! I don't often do that because I suck at it, but it took me like four hours, so I hope the effort was worth it :D I can't upload the art here, but you can check it out on ao3, you'll find the link at the end of this chapter :) Enjoy!**

PROMPT DAY 3**  
**Path 1 - Just in time  
Path 2 - Emotion/Mood/Aesthetic: Pure  
Path 3 - Affection yearned / Affection given

**\- I used the prompt "affection given".**

**\- SUMMARY: **Arthur and Merlin have wanted to be together for a long time, but before they can finally do that, there's one last thing that needs to be dealt with. Arthur needs to break up with Gwen and explain the situation and hope that she won't be heartbroken. This fanfic captures the moment in which Arthur lets Merlin know that Gwen was fine with it and was happy for them, therefore they can finally be together.

**...**

**AFFECTION GIVEN**

**...**

The morning had been busy, especially for both Merlin and Gaius. Many people in the lower town had got sick, and now it was up to them to treat them and check on every individual patient. Gaius had soon run out of his herbs, and so he'd sent Merlin out beyond the walls of Camelot to find new ones in the forest and to return with them as soon as possible.

Merlin hadn't even had the time to spend the morning with Arthur, how he usually did. He'd come to wake him up, bring him breakfast and to dress him, and then he'd run out again to help Gaius with his errands.

Which was why he was now on his way towards the city gates, with a list of herbs he was instructed to obtain in his pocket.

Just as he was about to walk out of the courtyard, he heard a familiar voice call his name. "Merlin!" It was Arthur, of course.

Merlin didn't have much time, but he stopped and turned around. Arthur was running towards him with a broad smile on his face, puzzling Merlin. Merlin had thought Arthur would be the opposite of _pleased_ when he'd informed him that morning that he couldn't do most of the chores for the day, that his job as Gaius' apprentice was more important due to the many ill citizens counting on him. But Arthur seemed excited, and his smile was contagious.

When Arthur reached him, Merlin was already grinning. "What is it?"

Arthur didn't answer. Instead, he took Merlin by his arm and looked around, as if checking whether they were alone - which they obviously weren't - or whether anyone was watching them. Then his eyes landed on the stables and he dragged Merlin with him inside, closing the door.

"Arthur, what's happening?"

Only after Arthur made sure they were completely alone, surrounded only by the horses, he let Merlin go and looked at him. If it was possible, his smile even widened.

Merlin was still more confused than excited.

"Merlin, I . . . " Arthur nodded at him, his eyes full of hope and enthusiasm. "I did it."

Merlin frowned in confusion. "You did wh-"

"I told her," Arthur clarified.

Merlin's eyes widened. Judging by how happy Arthur seemed, there was only one person he could have been talking about. Did he really do that?

"I told Gwen." Arthur gently took his hand, entwining their fingers. His eyes were sparkling.

"How did she take it?" Merlin asked carefully. He loved Arthur more than anything, but he didn't want to hurt his best friend. He needed to know.

"She was okay," Arthur assured him. "I told her about everything, and she was okay with us. She was happy," Arthur swallowed, "for us."

Merlin's smile widened and mirrored Arthur's. "So that means-"

"Yes." Arthur nodded excitedly.

Without wasting another second, Merlin squeezed Arthur's hand and laid his other one on his cheek. This was the moment he'd been waiting for, the moment he'd been dreaming about for weeks. His heart started beating faster and he almost forgot to breathe as he closed his eyes and moved forward. Arthur's lips met his and with that, his dream had officially come true.

He didn't know what to expect from their first kiss, but anything that he had ever imagined failed in comparison to the reality. Arthur's lips were softer than he'd expected, and although the kiss only lasted a few seconds, it felt like years. All his worries were forgotten at that one short moment, and when they parted, all Merlin could think about was doing it again, and again, for the rest of his life.

Arthur smiled at him as he gently took his hand up to his lips and kissed his knuckles.

"I think this is the beginning of something great."

"I feel the same way." Merlin leaned in to kiss Arthur again. "It's destiny," he said when the kiss ended. He had to laugh when he saw Arthur's face. He looked so ridiculously happy that Merlin almost didn't recognise him.

The door creaked and one of the horses neighed. They immediately let go of one another and stepped away from each other, just in time before one of the stable boys entered the stables.

"And that's why you need to muck out the stables better next time, _Mer_lin," Arthur cleared his throat as the boy entered and paused, looking at them. Merlin looked at Arthur incredulously, with a smirk slowly forming on his lips.

"Sire," the boy bowed slightly.

Arthur nodded and then looked at Merlin, returning the smirk with a silent promise that they would continue what they had started later in the day, when alone in his chambers.

Both of them then left the stables, Merlin leaving to go find all the herbs for Gaius, and Arthur returning to his chambers to sign various documents and to wait for Merlin so that he could keep his promise.

*the end*

**Next chapter will come out on Sunday! Thanks for reading! :)**

**link to the story + art on ao3: **archiveofourown (dot org) /works/18768304


	4. Prompt Day 4 - May 12th

**This one is short, but I promise that the next two are both over 2k words. I'll post them this Thursday and next Sunday.**

PROMPT DAY 4**  
**Path 1 - Caring  
Path 2 - Emotion/Mood/Aesthetic: Fierce  
Path 3 - A life lived / A life lost

\- prompts used: caring, a life lost

\- SUMMARY: Uther just died and Arthur is mourning his father. Luckily, he's got Merlin there for him.

**...**

**A Life Lost**

**...**

It had been a happy and joyful day in Camelot. Everyone had been celebrating the prince's birthday, many people and servants had attended the feast that had been prepared, even Uther hadn't missed it. There had been jesters. Everyone had laughed at their skilled performance.

But then all the celebrating turned into mourning, as the king Uther died.

Merlin had never seen Arthur so devastated, so lost. All he wanted was to go to him and hold him, but there hadn't been a moment where they could be alone. Arthur closed himself off from everything and everyone and suffered in silence. But Merlin knew him. He knew the sorrow and pain would eventually take over.

So when the evening came, and Arthur entered the wide room to spend the entire night alone with his father's body, Merlin stayed there. He stayed just outside the door, in case Arthur needed him.

He fell asleep.

But not long after that, he was woken up by Arthur's silent sobs, sounding from behind the closed door. Merlin pursed his lips, his eyes watering as he recalled the pain he had felt at the loss of his own father. He knew how Arthur felt. He knew how much it hurt, and he knew that even though Arthur didn't want to admit it, he needed him.

He knew because he would have given anything to have Arthur there with him when he mourned the death of Balinor, with no secrets between them. It would have been so much easier if he hadn't had to hide anything from him.

But that was why Merlin was there now.

He stood up and slowly opened the door, his eyes immediately finding Arthur on the other side of the room. He was holding Uther's hand, his forehead pressed against the pillows on which Uther's body lay, soaking them. His shoulders were shaking.

To see Arthur like this caused Merlin's tears to finally spill. He closed his eyes and brushed the tears away, closing the doors behind him and slowly approaching Arthur.

Merlin didn't say a word. He knew Arthur probably wouldn't even hear him for the pain he was feeling. Instead, he knelt down next to him, taking his hand and entwining their fingers, wrapping his other arm around Arthur's shaking shoulders, embracing him.

Arthur didn't even look at him, but that was okay. He squeezed Merlin's hand in gratitude and continued sobbing like a son who had just lost his father.

And Merlin was there for the rest of the night, providing comfort and reassurance that one day, after the pain had dulled and Arthur had become the king of Camelot, everything was going to be okay again.

As long as they had each other, it would be.

*the end*

**I hope you liked it! :)**


	5. Prompt Day 5 - May 16th

**As promised, this fanfic is longer :) Enjoy!**

PROMPT DAY 5**  
**Path 1 - Bruised and battered  
Path 2 - Emotion/Mood/Aesthetic: Sassy  
Path 3 - A legacy kept / A legacy let go

**\- I used prompts "bruised" and "a legacy let go"**

**\- SUMMARY** **-** Merlin gets threatened by a group of new knights who don't like the fact that he and Arthur are together. Gwaine, Lancelot, Leon, Percival and Elyan find him and bring him back to the king, who's quick to assure him that their future is bright.

**...**

**A Legacy Let Go**

**...**

It was late afternoon in Camelot, and Merlin was still in the armoury, where he had been polishing all the pieces of Arthur's armour for at least an hour already. He would have used his magic, which was something he usually did for this chore, but he'd promised Arthur he would use his gift sparingly, for his own safety. Yes, Uther was dead now, but that didn't change the law. Magic was still illegal and under the penalty of death.

And Merlin knew Arthur didn't want anyone to catch Merlin red-handed, so Merlin had promised to use his magic only if it was absolutely necessary. And that included even the most frustrating chores, which polishing Arthur's armour always was.

The last thing Merlin wanted was to lie to Arthur that evening. They had planned a dinner in Arthur's chambers by the fire. It wasn't often that Arthur had the evening for himself, spared of all his responsibilities, and so both he and Merlin wanted to make the most of it and spend the evening together.

Merlin had already informed Gaius that it was unlikely he'd return to sleep in his own bed that night. Gaius had answered with a smirk and a raised eyebrow, which made Merlin smile now as he was polishing Arthur's breastplate.

Merlin sighed as he put the last piece of Arthur's armour - now polished - away and he admired his work with his hands on his hips. Merlin had hoped that his chores would come less often now that he and Arthur were together, but he was wrong. He was still Arthur's manservant after all, and they didn't want anyone besides Gwen to know about their relationship. But this time Merlin didn't mind working, as long as he and Arthur could spend that evening together as promised.

The door to the armoury opened and three knights walked in. As Merlin glanced at them, he immediately recognised them - they had been training with Arthur for the past few months and had only been knighted two days before. They were the newest knights of Camelot.

"Hey, Merlin," one of them addressed him.

Merlin smiled at them. "Hi." It wasn't unusual. Merlin followed Arthur everywhere, which meant that he had been present at most of the training sessions. All the knights knew who he was at this point, and it had never been hard for Merlin to make friends.

"Polishing the king's armour, I see," the same knight pointed at Merlin's proud work.

Merlin nodded. "Yeah, Arthur wanted it to be _shining _for tomorrow's training session."

"That's not a proper way to address the king, Merlin," the knight told him rather harshly. Merlin kept his smile but frowned in confusion. Yes, calling the king by his first name was nowhere near proper, but no other knights ever cared. They knew that he and Arthur were friends and that Arthur didn't mind, and that he, in fact, welcomed it.

"Tell me, Merlin," the knight stepped closer to him. At that moment, Merlin's smile disappeared and his friendliness was replaced by hesitant fear. The knight glanced at his two companions with a smirk, before looking back at Merlin. He folded his arms on his chest and with a nod and his eyes pointed between Merlin's legs. "Do you ever _polish_ something _else_ that belongs to the king?"

Merlin's cheeks reddened and he took a step back. Perhaps they were only joking, Merlin tried to calm himself down. He didn't know them that well yet, so maybe this was their way of joking, which, yeah, Merlin didn't like or appreciate, but it wasn't meant to be taken seriously.

He laughed nervously. "Yeah," he pointed behind the armour on the bench. "Arthur's sword, obviously. I'm his manservant."

All the knights stepped closer to him, blocking his way to the door and making him walk closer towards the corner of the armoury. "Is that how you call it?" The knight snorted together with his two friends. "A _sword?"_

"Well, it is a sword," Merlin swallowed.

"You know what I mean, _Mer_lin."

This was precisely the moment that Merlin would usually choose to use magic. He'd fake a cough or look down so that they wouldn't be able to see his eyes, and then he'd make a shield fall down to distract them while escaping the room. But it was a risk, and he'd promised Arthur that he wouldn't use magic unless it was absolutely necessary.

He looked at the knights and at their determined eyes. Without his magic, he suddenly felt so small compared to them. But they wouldn't hurt him, would they? They couldn't, unless they wanted to fight Arthur, who would absolutely fight for him.

They wouldn't hurt him.

"You're not fit for the position of the king's servant," the second knight said. "He only keeps you around because you provide him with physical pleasure."

"Distasteful."

"You can't mean anything to him, he's a _king._"

They approached him and surrounded him in the corner of the room. One of them grabbed his arms and held tightly until it started to hurt. Merlin didn't move as the knight stared into his face.

"You'll address the king properly from now on, do you understand?"

"You will no longer distract him from his duties. He needs to take care of the kingdom and produce an heir. That's how it always was and how it always should be."

"Don't ever think that you two are equal. You're not."

Merlin's eyes filled with tears as the knight tightened his grip on him. It hurt, and it would definitely leave a bruise that Merlin would remember. He'd never had to deal with anything like this, he was usually liked among the knights.

Thankfully, the door to the armoury opened once more and Sir Leon, Sir Elyan, Percival with Gwaine and Lancelot all entered the room together, laughing.

Gwaine was in the middle of some story, "and then I told him, 'Not on my watch, mate!' and you know what he repl-"

He immediately stopped when they all noticed what was going on. Their smiles were replaced by angered frowns.

"What's going on here?" Sir Leon asked with a strong and authoritative voice, while Gwaine even unsheathed his sword.

The knights let go of Merlin and smiled innocently. "Nothing is going on, we're just teaching Merlin here a lesson."

"Merlin doesn't need to be taught anything," Lancelot frowned at them. "And definitely nothing from _you_, Sir Toren."

"Of course," the knights bowed to Sir Leon and disappeared out of the door. Percival and Elyan stared at them harshly as they walked by, and Gwaine with Lancelot immediately rushed over to Merlin's side.

"What happened?"

"Are you alright?"

"Did they hurt you?"

Merlin winced as they touched his arm in support. "A little bit," he admitted. They let go of him carefully, all looking sorry. Their worried voices and faces all reminded Merlin that he did have friends and that those three knights were only three in more than a hundred. He'd be fine.

Probably.

"They had no right to do this to you," Gwaine gritted through his teeth, his hand touching his sheathed sword restlessly. Merlin noticed it.

"No, Gwaine, it's fine." Merlin smiled at him, not very sure of whether he was right or not. "They're new knights, they'll learn."

"They should," Leon said. "And they should know that there is no honour in hurting the innocent."

"We'll take you to Arthur," Lancelot decided. "Do you need-"

"No, I can walk," Merlin reassured him with a smile. "Do we need to bother him with this?" He asked nervously. He didn't want Arthur to worry, especially not when they were supposed to spend the evening together. It was supposed to be perfect, not spent worrying about Merlin's safety, he wanted their date to be problem-free.

"We must," Leon decided. "It's our duty."

With that, they all left the armoury and led Merlin all the way to the courtyard, up the stairs and into Arthur's chambers. They knocked on the door and waited until Arthur opened. Merlin hoped that Arthur wouldn't think it was Merlin alone waiting behind the door and wouldn't embarrass himself, but he never knocked, so it should be fine and the knights hopefully wouldn't find out about their relationship.

The door opened and Arthur's smile faded as soon as he saw Merlin and the others.

"What's the matter?" he asked, looking at Merlin up and down, probably holding himself back and not taking Merlin's hand, which he already would have done, had Merlin been there alone.

"We found Sir Bally, Sir Pein and Sir Wigh harassing Merlin in the armoury, sire," Leon informed his king.

"They bruised his arms!" Gwaine said, his tone clearly indicating that he was very upset about it. Merlin was grateful for his loyalty and friendship.

"What?" Arthur frowned in worry and this time didn't hesitate to take Merlin's hand and lead him inside. "Are you okay?"

Merlin nodded. "I am now." He turned to the knights and smiled in gratitude. "Thanks."

"I think you should debase them," Gwaine told Arthur. "They don't deserve the title, Arthur."

"Thank you all," Arthur nodded at them. "I'll give it a thought."

"You'll give it a thought?" Gwaine asked incredulously. "Just do it! They can't hurt innocent people if they're knights, they-"

"Gwaine," Arthur looked at him sternly. "I'll think about it. Thank you for informing me."

Gwaine frowned, but eventually, he left with the other knights, and the door closed behind them. As soon as Merlin and Arthur were alone, Arthur took his hand and squeezed it in worry.

"What did they say? Why did they want to hurt you? Are you sure you're okay?"

Merlin laughed softly. "Wow, so much attention, all of a sudden."

"Merlin, this is serious." Arthur didn't smile. "I can't have knights that I don't trust. What did they say to you?"

Merlin sighed and slowly led Arthur over to his bed. They both sat down on it, still holding hands, and only then Merlin realized how much the situation had shaken him and how he was using humour only to mask his true feelings. He welled up and shrugged.

"They, um, they said that I didn't deserve you and that I was distracting you from your duties as a king. They implied that we were . . . _sleeping _together."

Arthur blinked at him in disbelief, but before he could say something, Merlin continued.

"They said that we weren't equal and that I should address you properly because you were a king and you shouldn't care about me."

Arthur squeezed his hand and entwined their fingers to comfort Merlin. Merlin appreciated that.

"Tell me you don't believe that."

Merlin smiled at him briefly. "You wouldn't go into all this trouble, finishing your paperwork ahead of time in order to spend one evening with me, if you didn't care about me."

Arthur lowered his head as he hid his fond smile and then he nodded, looking into Merlin's eyes. "That's right," he said and brushed Merlin's tears away. "I care about you way more than I should, Merlin. I'm glad you know that."

Merlin leaned in to kiss him without any warning, seeking comfort. Arthur returned the kiss and as Merlin pulled away, he whispered, "I love you."

It took a few seconds for Arthur to respond to that, but when he did, it was with another kiss, more desperate this time. "I love you, too, Merlin."

"Glad we've established that, then."

Arthur laughed softly against Merlin's mouth, and pulled away, capturing his cheek with his palm. "I want to make Camelot safe for you."

Merlin sighed. "That will be very hard."

"But not impossible." Arthur brushed his thumb up and down Merlin's cheekbone and then put his dark hair behind his ear. "I don't want to continue my father's legacy of fear. I want everyone in Camelot to feel safe, and I mean _everyone."_

Merlin was enveloped in such a deep feeling of love and appreciation that he didn't think he could take it. "Do you mean that?" He asked, still incredulous.

"I mean it, Merlin," Arthur confirmed. "And I'll need your help. We'll work together to rewrite the law in order for the kingdom to be safe for everyone. How do you like the sound of that?"

"I'd love that."

They smiled at each other and kissed again before Arthur stood up and held out his hand for Merlin. Merlin took it.

"Now, the dinner is already prepared, and I believe I have a promise to keep."

Merlin grinned at him and stood up from the bed. Arthur led him to the table and they both sat down, officially starting their well deserved evening of love and meaningless conversations that would make them laugh and dance and completely forget about Merlin's misfortune of meeting the knights in the armoury.

But that was okay. Because together, they could beat anything.

*the end*

**I've written two fanfics for the next prompt day (this Sunday), so you'll be getting over 3k words (two chapters). But I've got a huge exam on Monday that will determine whether my first year of university was worth it and whether I should even stay for the second year, so I should be probably studying instead of posting these fics, but I'll post them, don't worry. Just wish me luck... and thanks for reading! :)**


	6. Prompt Day 6 - May 19th - Part I

**It's two fanfics from me today! Enjoy! :)**

PROMPT DAY 6  
Path 1 - Sharing  
Path 2 - Emotion/Mood/Aesthetic: Distraught  
Path 3 - In the shadow / In the light

**\- I used all the prompts for this one**

**\- SUMMARY - **Arthur and Merlin have been dating for a while, and when they travel with a big group of knights to check the borders of Camelot, rumours spread fast. Although some knights are happy for them, there are some who don't agree, and for this night, Merlin doesn't feel safe sleeping away from Arthur - so he doesn't, and when they wake up, everything is different and their secret is out. Aka the fic where Arthur publicly announces that he and Merlin are together!

**...**

**FROM THE SHADOWS, INTO THE LIGHT**

**...**

It had been a difficult day for Merlin. The day marked exactly four months since he and Arthur had decided to be together, and Merlin had hoped that Arthur would know that and that they would plan something special (like the last three times), like a trip outside, just the two of them, or a dinner. What he had not anticipated however, was that his duties as a king always came first and unfortunately for them, there had been reported sightings of enemy knights plotting something inside the Camelot borders. Which meant that whatever plans they had been preparing had to wait, and instead, they had to go investigate the issue to determine whether it was just rumours or a possible threat.

For the past two days, Merlin had been stuck to the back of his horse, riding right behind Arthur, with a group of about forty men behind them. Merlin had to behave like the manservant that he was the entire time, but thankfully, Gwaine, Percival, Elyan, Lancelot and Leon were there with them, so it wasn't completely boring the whole time.

It was getting dark and Merlin was becoming rather tired. They stopped a few moments later and Arthur ordered the knights to set up a camp for the night, and decided who would keep watch first. It was the middle of summer and the night was hot, so they didn't even bother bringing tents. Instead, each of them had their own bedroll to sleep on.

Merlin hopped off his horse and immediately felt his thighs. They hurt from so much riding around, but it wasn't as bad as it used to be when he first came to Camelot. Back then, even after only a few hour long hunting trip, he'd thought he'd never walk again.

"Merlin, feed the horses," Arthur ordered and didn't even look at him. Merlin frowned slightly in annoyance.

"Yes, sire," he mumbled, tying his own horse to a tree. Did Arthur completely forget what day it was? And what it meant for them? He glanced at his king and saw him already talking to his knights, probably devising a plan as they were nearing the borders.

Maybe.

But Arthur was a king, Merlin shouldn't hold that against him, he understood that it was a difficult job taking care of an entire kingdom. Still, he couldn't help but feel a little sad.

He fed his horse and then continued with all the horses of all the knights. Hopefully, it wouldn't take too long because Merlin was already fighting the urge to yawn every few minutes.

As he was nearing the last group of horses, he almost tripped over a root, but balanced it out and successfully reached the horses. There was a group of new knights standing nearby, not noticing him.

"And that _Merlin._"

Merlin looked up as he heard his name but soon realized that the knights were only talking about him in hushed voices. He was close enough to hear them, hidden behind the horses, and they probably didn't realize he could hear them.

"He's so incompetent, I can't understand for the world why the king is keeping him around."

Merlin frowned sadly. Usually, he was liked among the knights, but these three or four were new and had only been knighted about two weeks ago. Perhaps they didn't realize that he and Arthur were friends?

"Haven't you heard?" One of them looked at the others. "The king is only keeping him because they sleep together."

"Really?"

"Yeah, everyone knows it."

Merlin's cheeks reddened and his heart started beating faster.

"No wonder he drags the boy everywhere we go, he doesn't even have armour and we're heading for a potential fight!"

"I know, right?"

"If I were the king, I would have sacked Merlin a long time ago."

"He should get rid of him, yeah."

"I agree."

They laughed loudly. "He's so lazy, too!"

Merlin swallowed, fed the last horse and quickly fled the scene. He only stopped walking after he reached a thick tree, considerably far from the camping site and definitely out of sight and earshot of the knights.

He couldn't believe it. Did they really hate him? Could they even be trusted when they talked like that? They didn't seem bothered by the idea of anyone overhearing their conversation. What if they decided to get rid of him themselves one day?

Should Merlin really be here? They were right, he didn't even have armour, the only reason he was going was . . . Arthur.

"Merlin?"

Merlin opened his eyes and Arthur was staring back at him, looking worried.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "I'm sorry about today, I know it's a special day for us and I wish we could have stayed in Camelot or at least be alone out here, but I can't stop being the king."

Merlin smiled at him, nodding. "I know that, you don't have to apologise." He was still leaning against the tree rather suspiciously, so he cleared his throat and moved a step forward, trying to look confident.

But it had been a very long time since he last managed to hide anything from Arthur. The king gently touched his arm and repeated his question from before. "Are you okay, Merlin?"

Merlin nodded. "I will be."

"What happened?"

"It's nothing, it's just . . . " He hesitated for a moment, but then he sighed and realized that he was glad that Arthur was there with him right now. He could tell him anything after all. "As I was feeding the horses, I overheard some knights speaking ill of me and . . . . of our relationship."

Arthur's worried frown turned into an anxious one.

"Do they know about us?"

Merlin let out a breath. "According to them, everyone knows."

Arthur closed his eyes briefly, and Merlin knew exactly what he was thinking. They didn't want anyone to know about them, but if everyone already knew about them anyway-

"Should we even keep hiding it, then? If everyone knows?"

Merlin honestly didn't have an answer to that question. Were they ready to tell everyone? And even if they were, would it change anything? Some of the knights already hated him, so could it really get any worse? He was still Arthur's manservant, they couldn't hurt him, could they?

"Are we ready for that?"

Arthur shrugged. "I guess we won't know until . . . until we just know."

Merlin nodded. "Alright. We'll just . . . _know_ when the moment comes. But for tonight . . . " He hesitated again.

Arthur took his hand and stepped closer. "What is it?"

Merlin looked up at him. "Can I spend the night next to you? I mean, I know we sleep like that most of the time anyway, but I was just thinking about the knights and what they said and-"

"Of course," Arthur interrupted him with a smile. "You'll prepare your bedroll right next to me tonight, and I'll tell Sir Leon with Gwaine and the others to sleep around us, just so that you feel safe."

Sometimes Merlin couldn't even believe how considerate Arthur could be when he really tried and cared about him.

"Thank you." He leaned closer to kiss Arthur briefly and Arthur returned the kiss, caressing Merlin's cheek with his gloved hand. When they parted, all worries were forgotten.

They made their way back to the camp, Merlin finishing a few extra chores around the horses and dinner, and Arthur telling his most trusted knights about what had been happening and how to arrange that night's bedrolls on the ground.

Before the evening was over and the forest was enveloped in darkness, Gwaine paid Merlin a visit.

"Don't worry, Merlin, we'll protect you tonight," Gwaine immediately informed him with a confident smile and a nod. "No harm will come to you."

"Thanks, Gwaine, I appreciate that."

Gwaine looked around briefly and then leaned closer, his voice silent. "You know, you could have told me about you and Arthur."

Merlin shrugged at him. "I figured you knew," he answered. "I mean, I heard that everyone knows at this point, but I thought you knew even before that."

Gwaine tilted his head, narrowing his eyes with a smile. "Yeah, I mean I've always known you two were together, but still." He put his hand on Merlin's shoulder. "I hope you know you can trust me, Merlin. With anything."

Merlin smiled at him and put his hand over his. "I know, thanks. I appreciate it."

Gwaine nodded and took a bite of an apple that he was holding, taking a step back. "Well, I'd better get back to Arthur and prepare for the night, then." He waved at Merlin. "Good night, mate."

"Good night."

The night quickly approached and before Merlin knew it, the sun was long gone and the knights were all preparing their bedrolls around four separate fires. Merlin was the last one to take his bedroll from his horse's back, and he hurriedly walked over to where Arthur was sitting on the ground.

When he approached the first of the fires, all the knights, his closest friends, greeted him with a smile. Merlin was glad that he was welcomed there. He unrolled his bedroll right next to Arthur who kept smiling at him, and wished a good night to everyone. He just hoped this would be a good night for him too.

As he lay down, so did Arthur. He was lying on his side, turned close to Merlin, and although Merlin might have been worried before, all his worries melted away as soon as he saw Arthur's warm smile directed right at him.

"Good night, Merlin," Arthur whispered.

"Good night, Arthur."

Some knight yawned loudly in the distance and they both laughed silently before they finally closed their eyes and drifted off.

The morning was very different from what they had both expected. First of all, they had not been the first to wake up, not by a long shot, second of all, they somehow managed to move even closer and were now sleeping practically on _top_ of each other, just like they did when alone in Arthur's chambers.

To think that it was slightly embarrassing was an understatement.

Lancelot was the one to wake them up, but unfortunately, that happened when most of the knight had already stood up and noticed them and their _unusual_ sleeping position.

"Merlin? Arthur, it's morning," he told them.

Merlin stirred, his head positioned on Arthur's chest, and Arthur hugged Merlin even closer before he opened his eyes. When he did, he reacted slowly, with caution.

"Merlin," he whispered, nudging Merlin a little until Merlin also opened his eyes. When he realized what was going on, he moved away quickly, almost making his head spin. He sat up on his own bedroll and stared at all the knights around them.

Arthur also sat up, now completely awake and aware of the awkward situation.

Merlin looked at Arthur, who looked at him too, and in that one moment, they both knew what this meant, what they were thinking about.

It was time.

They were ready.

And even if they weren't, they had to be now because there was no other choice at this point. Whereas before everyone had suspected, now everyone knew for sure. So why not make it official?

Arthur cleared his throat and stood up, holding his hand out to Merlin to help him get up. Merlin accepted his help and stood up next to Arthur, letting go of his hand again.

All the knights were awake now, and Arthur and Merlin had their utmost attention without even trying.

Arthur took a deep breath and slowly reached out his hand for Merlin to take. Merlin stared at the hand, then glanced at all the knights around, but finally took it and held it tightly. He trusted Arthur, and if he thought that this was the perfect moment, then so be it.

"As most of you have probably already noticed," Arthur started, "Merlin and I don't have the usual relationship of a king and his servant. The most important aspect of such a relationship is loyalty and trust. But Merlin and I have more than that. Not only do I trust Merlin with my life and he trusts me with his. Not only is he the most loyal and trustworthy person I know, and in return, I am loyal to him. But we also love each other and always will." He paused for a moment, looking at the knights all around him and Merlin squeezed his hand in support. A smile returned to Arthur's face. "This is me telling you that Merlin is my manservant and also my chosen companion. And if anyone has a problem with that, they will have to find a new king to follow."

Merlin gasped softly, looking up at Arthur. Did Arthur really just risk his entire army, all his men, for him? Was he willing to lose all of them?

"Most of you have known Merlin for years," Arthur continued. "You've watched him carry out all my orders, follow me everywhere despite his lack of training in combat, and always have my back. He has never been anything but friendly towards you, and that's why I expect that there will be no problems with him being more than just a friend to me. But if there are any problems, if you find yourself hesitating in your loyalty to me, you're free to return to Camelot. I will not judge you, but I need knights that I trust, and I need to know that you trust me to lead you. So if no one has any questions-"

"How long have you been together?" Gwaine interrupted Arthur with a grin on his face.

Arthur turned to him and sighed. Of course, it would be Gwaine who interrupted him. "For four months."

He whistled.

Lancelot nudged him with his elbow so that he'd keep quiet.

Arthur turned back to his knights and finished his speech. "So without any further ado, eat your breakfast and get back on your horses. We are only a few hours away from the border."

There were a few whispers among the knights, but eventually, they all followed Arthur's orders.

Merlin and Arthur turned towards each other and briefly hugged, both relieved that there weren't any further problems with the knights and that they could safely continue travelling.

"Aw, look at them," Gwaine commented as they parted.

"Gwaine," Leon warned him.

"What? I'm just happy for them."

"It's okay," Merlin smiled at him. Then he smiled at all of them. "Thanks, everyone."

"You got it, Merlin."

"Yeah, you can always count on us," Percival added, and the rest of them nodded in agreement.

"Alright, so now that this is resolved," Arthur put his hands on his hips, "go on, get your horses and put out the fires, or we'll never make it to the border today."

Leon and Lancelot were the only ones who answered with "sire", but sooner or later, everyone left and so did Merlin and Arthur. They put their bedrolls back on the horses and in just a few minutes, left the camp behind. And this time, Merlin was riding right next to Arthur, leading the way with him.

*the end*

**I hope you liked it! :D The next fanfic is shorter and is about Merlin and Gwaine :)**


	7. Prompt Day 6 - May 19th - Part II

**And the second fic is here! You can read it as a continuation of the previous fanfic(s), or as a standalone. Enjoy! :)**

PROMPT DAY 6  
Path 1 - Sharing  
Path 2 - Emotion/Mood/Aesthetic: Distraught  
Path 3 - In the shadow / In the light

**\- I used the prompt "sharing"**

**\- SUMMARY - **Simply said, Merlin finally tells Gwaine about his magic.

**...**

**BECAUSE GWAINE DESERVED TO KNOW**

**...**

The day was slowly reaching its end, and Merlin was sitting on his bed in his chambers, waiting for Gwaine and taking deep breaths. There was something he was about to do, something that he rarely did, and to be honest, he was afraid.

It was time to tell Gwaine about his magic.

He'd been wanting to tell him for a while, but the time of the decision finally came when he and Arthur were sitting at a table in Arthur's chambers, planning the future of Camelot together. They had already rewritten most of the laws and the reality of magic being welcome in Camelot was fast approaching. They had decided then to tell their most trusted knights - about the prepared new law and about Merlin's magic, and then take it to the council for consideration and review.

They'd already cleared Arthur's schedule for the next day so that they could invite the knights into Arthur's chambers and talk about it. But Gwaine had been Merlin's friend for a long time, and Merlin wanted to tell him beforehand.

He knew that Gwaine would accept him and probably even joke around about it, but that didn't mean that he wasn't scared.

His heart was beating fast and he was sweating, telling himself over and over that this would be fine. That they'd still be good friends after all of this and that Gwaine was a part of the future that he and Arthur were planning.

There was a knock on the door to Gaius's quarters and not long after that, Gwaine finally entered.

"I'm here for-"

"Merlin's waiting for you in his room." Merlin heard Gaius say. He went to open the door and smiled down at Gwaine, gesturing for him to follow him.

"Thanks," Gwaine smiled at Gaius, who was more interested in his ongoing experiment, looking at something through his glasses.

Gwaine raised his eyebrows but grinned as he followed Merlin into his room and the door closed behind them. He clasped his hands together. "So, what was so important that I had to drink one less tankard of mead than I usually do to come up here?"

Merlin paused. "What? Gwaine, I told you about this like two days ago."

"I know, I know," Gwaine smiled and sat down on Merlin's bed, facing him. "But it's the weekend and I'm always in the tavern on weekends."

Merlin rolled his eyes fondly and then took a deep breath. His fear was slowly leaving him, but once he looked at Gwaine and realized that this was the moment, he was more anxious than ever.

"I . . ."

"Are you okay?" Gwaine asked him. "If this is not a good time, I can-"

"No, Gwaine," Merlin sighed. "It'll never be a good time for this, but I need to tell you something . . . very important about myself."

Gwaine opened his mouth, but Merlin stopped him with his hand. "Please don't guess, just . . . just listen."

Gwaine nodded, becoming serious. Merlin was glad for that because telling someone that he had magic was no joke for him. It had always been a secret that could get him killed and sharing it with someone he hadn't shared it with before was scary.

"Ok," Merlin sighed again and rubbed his hands together. "Arthur and I are in the process of changing Camelot in one significant way that would hopefully make it a better place for everyone in the future. There will be a meeting tomorrow with you and the rest of the knights, as I'm sure you're aware, and at the meeting, they will all find out something about me that I wanted to tell you first."

Gwaine didn't say a word, but he seemed moved. Merlin could see it in his eyes. Gwaine had always been loyal to him and he knew this meant a lot to him.

"Gwaine, you're one of my best friends, and I want you to know that . . . " Merlin hesitated. Gwaine was looking at him so supportively that it helped calm Merlin down.

Maybe he should just show him.

Finally, Merlin clasped his hands together and whispered into them. Gwaine's eyes widened as Merlin's eyes changed colour from blue to bright gold, and then when he opened his palms, a blue butterfly flew up and above their heads.

Gwaine watched it as it flew around the room and then sat down on Merlin's fingers. They looked at each other and Merlin finally finished what he was trying to say.

"I have magic."

Gwaine smiled so widely that Merlin didn't think he'd ever seen him like that. He stood up from the bed, leaned down to Merlin and gave him a tight hug. The butterfly flew away from them as Gwaine laughed.

"Thank you for telling me, mate."

"You deserved to know who I was." Merlin patted his shoulder as they let go of each other. "You've been a good friend to me, but I was lying to you for so long-"

"Don't worry about it, Merlin. I understand why you had to." Gwaine sat back down on the bed and took a deep breath. "So I take it Arthur knows?" Merlin nodded. "Wow, I can't believe you told me first of the knights!" He grinned. "Not even Lancelot? I know you've known him longer."

"Well, Lancelot has known for years."

"What?" Gwaine's smile faded and suddenly he looked offended, but Merlin could see he wasn't being serious. "When did you-"

"He found out when we first met, I wasn't being careful."

Gwaine just stared at him. Probably thinking about how Merlin was even alive after all these years, still living in Camelot, where magic was outlawed under the penalty of death.

And then he laughed. "How are you still alive, Merlin, is a wonder."

"Gaius told me the very same thing," Merlin laughed with him.

They spent the rest of the evening together, talking about everything, not just Merlin's magic. Merlin told Gwaine about some of the adventures he'd had saving Arthur, about some of his mistakes, one of which ended up with Arthur growing donkey ears (Gwaine couldn't stop laughing about that one and Arthur would probably never forgive Merlin for telling him about it), and Gwaine also told Merlin about all the things he'd lived through before becoming a knight of Camelot.

They laughed and talked until the day ended and it was time for Merlin to go to Arthur's chambers. And Gwaine? For once, he didn't end his Saturday drunk, instead, he kept a smile on his face even long after he'd fallen asleep.

*the end*

**So that's it from me today! I hope you enjoyed the fanfics, more will come on Thursday. I've already finished writing the entire series, so all I have to do is find some time to proofread it among all the studying. Thanks for reading and have a nice week! :)**


	8. Prompt Day 7 - May 23rd

**I passed the exam! Thanks for wishing me good luck, haha, clearly it worked! :D Anyway, here's another fanfic in this series. It's probably less interesting than the previous one, but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway :)**

PROMPT DAY 7  
Path 1 - Love wins  
Path 2 - Emotion/Mood/Aesthetic: Calm  
Path 3 - A challenge accepted / a challenge refused

-** I used the prompt "love wins" and "a challenge accepted"**

\- **SUMMARY** \- Arthur is challenged by one of his knights who doesn't agree with his choice to be with Merlin. Arthur accepts the challenge. #LoveWins

**...**

**OUR FUTURE**

**...**

The gauntlet landed at Arthur's feet and at that point, there was only one thing left to do.

He picked it up.

This wasn't the first time that Arthur had to fight for his love, but the last time he did that, he was under the influence of a spell. This time, it wasn't a princess whose father he had to fight, this time it was true love – he really did love Merlin. And it was this love and the promise of a good future of their kingdom that made him pick up the gauntlet and accept the challenge.

He had to defend what was right.

And it wasn't an enemy that had thrown him the gauntlet, no, it was his own knight. It was one of the young ones - Arthur recognised him, of course. He had trained with him until he was worthy of his knighthood, and now he was standing against his own king? For one sole reason and that was that he didn't think the idea of Merlin and Arthur together was _right? _

How could _love_ ever be wrong?

It's the purest of all emotions, the one that brings people together and keeps them together despite everything, the sheer force behind every happy family, be it the parents, the children or good friends.

And yet the knight dared point at Arthur holding Merlin's hand and call it _unnatural._

Arthur unsheathed his sword and gripped it tightly with both his hands. He knew Merlin was watching him, and he knew that he was worried, but there was really nothing he could do. Refusing the challenge would solve nothing, and this knight wouldn't stop until he had his own way. He'd made that clear.

Perhaps he counted on the fact that Arthur wouldn't fight his own knight for Merlin, but if that was his belief, then it was wrong. Arthur would fight a thousand armies if it meant saving Merlin, and one knight, whom he had trained himself, was nothing compared to that.

Other knights stepped away, making room for Arthur and the knight who had challenged him, and the fight could begin. The first blow landed and Arthur successfully stopped it with his sword. The knight tried again but it had the same result. Their swords clashed together, their teeth were gritted tight as they fought, and Arthur managed to get the knight on his back on the ground.

"Now, can we-"

The knight kicked Arthur in the shin, making him lose balance and jumped up. He grabbed his sword, but Arthur was already back on his feet, holding his own sword and knocked the sword out of the knight's hand.

The knight found himself unarmed.

"Now," Arthur said, breathing heavily. "Can we end this once and for all?"

The knight frowned at him. "It's wrong! He's your manservant, you shouldn't-"

"But I do!" Arthur told him, his voice strong and loud. "I love him. How can love be wrong? It doesn't matter that he is my manservant or that he's a man, what matters is that he is a good man and that he loves me just as much as I love him. He's more loyal than you are."

"I am loyal!"

Arthur laughed sadly. "This is no loyalty," he explained. "You challenge your own king and yell into his face that you can't accept him for who he is and who he chooses to love! How is that loyalty?" Arthur paused and pursed his lips. He looked at all his loyal and trustworthy men around and sighed. He held out his hand for the knight, who hesitantly took it and stood up. Arthur looked at him sadly. "How can I have you among my knights when you're not loyal to me?"

"You've trained me!" The knight yelled at him. "You know how well I fight! I'm one of your strongest knights!"

Arthur shook his head. "But how can I know that you won't use that strength against me or Merlin rather than to fight alongside me?"

The knight was quiet. He looked behind Arthur, clearly finding Merlin in the crowd and frowned. Then he looked back at Arthur. "If you don't want me . . . then I'll have to find a better king to fight for."

Arthur didn't like this. He didn't like this at all. He didn't want his knights to distrust him this much, he didn't want them to hate him just because of who he happened to fall in love with and have by his side. But if there was no other way to build a safe kingdom for everyone, then so be it. He was going to lose a few people along the way. Not the good ones, hopefully.

The knight walked away and Arthur looked down, breathing heavily and closing his eyes. It was hard to be a king. He still dreamed of having a farm somewhere and living there with Merlin, but those were just dreams. He hoped to shape Camelot into a place that he would love more than that dream, into a better _home._

"My king," one of the other knights spoke up. When Arthur looked up, he saw that it was Leon who stepped forward. "I have fought alongside you many times and I will always stand by your side."

Arthur nodded in appreciation. "Thank you, Sir Leon."

Lancelot also stepped forward. "I believe in the world that you will build, Arthur, and I will still be here when that future comes."

Elyan was the next to speak. "Even though I was a commoner, a nobody, you were willing to lay down your life for me. I will never forget that and I shall fight by your side until the day I die."

"I know you are a good man, and I fight for what's right." Percival nodded at him with a smile.

Arthur's eyes landed on Gwaine. With a sigh, Gwaine said, "I might or might not sneak a drink into the armoury from time to time, but don't be mistaken - I'll always want to fight with you and for what's right."

A few of the knights laughed, and Arthur couldn't be gladder to be standing there among them, as their king but also as their equal. More and more knights started stepping forward all around him, nodding at him and confirming their loyalty until Merlin himself stepped forward and took Arthur's hand.

"You know what I think," he smiled at him.

"That I'm a dollophead?"

Merlin laughed. "Yes, that."

Arthur laughed with him and as they held hands, they stared at all the knights around them, all of them supportive and loyal, all of them their friends, their family.

And they both realized that some of that future that they were trying to build was already here.

*the end*

**The next one is better and longer, I promise! It'll be about Merlin being arrested for using magic, but don't worry, there will be a happy ending ;) I hope you liked this one! Thanks for reading! :)**


	9. Prompt Day 8 - May 26th

**As I promised, this fanfic is longer and hopefully better than the last one. Still, thanks for the feedback! :) ****You might want to read the previous chapter before reading this one (if you haven't yet), but it's ok if you don't want to, I tried to write it as a standalone. :)**

PROMPT DAY 8  
Path 1 - Territory  
Path 2 - Emotion/Mood/Aesthetic: Harsh  
Path 3 - A time to consider / A time to act

\- **prompts used: harsh, a time to act**

**\- SUMMARY - **Merlin is attacked in the streets and uses magic in defence. Unfortunately, a guard (Lancelot) sees him and arrests him together with the attacker, taking them both to Arthur for a trial. The day started out perfectly, but how will it end now?

**...**

**A TIME TO ACT**

**...**

Ever since Merlin and Arthur's relationship had become public, Merlin had noticed quite a few stares among the people. Yes, he came to the market every other day and always bought the same things for Gaius, so people there knew him. They knew who he was and some of them were even his friends, kind of. But they had never _stared_ at him like this.

He had noticed the way they looked at him was slightly different right the first morning after he and Arthur had informed the kingdom of their relationship. That was two weeks ago, and it still hadn't changed.

There were still a few smiles here and there, but some people stopped smiling. Others were frowning or looked confused or suspicious. A few of them quickly accepted how things were and tried to please Merlin to be on his good side, while others avoided him.

It was strange being this . . . _popular._

It certainly wasn't helpful when he needed to use magic, which was becoming very scarce. He couldn't risk anyone seeing him, so now that everyone was constantly watching him, using magic was out of the question. That, and he'd promised Arthur he'd only use his magic for dire situations weeks ago. He intended to keep it, especially now that his dream of magic being welcome in Camelot was so close.

Merlin adjusted the strap of his backpack on his shoulder, walking away from the market with all the ingredients that Gaius had asked him to buy that morning. He was on his way back home, looking forward to Arthur's training session that afternoon. He always had to dress him for the occasion, and now that they were officially together, undressing and dressing that king had become a much more exciting task. Also, he got to watch Arthur fight, which usually involved Arthur trying to impress him and then ending up on the ground. Merlin always made sure to never miss those moments.

He turned the corner of a small house, a smile on his face as he was thinking about all this. When he looked up, he found himself face to face with a man of similar age – he was frowning.

Merlin stopped and looked at his face – he recognised him! It was a former knight. He'd refused to follow Arthur because he didn't agree with the king being in love with his manservant, and unfortunately, after a fight which he'd lost, he lost his knighthood because Arthur couldn't trust him. He wasn't loyal anymore and could turn against Merlin whenever he pleased.

Just like today, it seemed.

Merlin sighed and turned around, walking back towards the market, trying to avoid any sort of conflict. He wasn't going to let anyone ruin this day for him.

"Merlin!"

Too late.

The man followed him and Merlin was forced to pick up his pace. He turned a corner, then another, turned _right_, and finally found himself in a small street in between two houses that ended in- a _wall._ Damn it. He should have turned left.

"Merlin!"

Merlin turned around to face him. The man was standing there, slowly walking closer with tiny steps and anger in his face.

"Hi, I think we've met? I mean, you obviously know my name."

"You know exactly who I am," the man gritted through his teeth. "You watched me as I challenged the king and I lost my knighthood because of you!"

Merlin shook his head and pursed his lips. "I'm sorry, but you just said that _you_ challenged the king? So that kind of makes you responsible for what happened afterwards, doesn't it? I had nothing to do with that."

"You bloody know you did!"

Merlin was becoming nervous at this point. Behind him was only the wall, there was no one around, and the man was getting dangerously closer. And he was armed. Merlin wasn't.

"Being a knight meant everything to me!"

"Look, I'm really sorry about what happened, but you swore an oath and you weren't able to keep it."

"I would have been able to if you had known your place and hadn't tried to get close to the king and his power!"

Merlin opened his mouth to say something, anything to calm the man down, but it was too late. He grabbed the hilt of his dagger and unsheathed it from its scabbard at his belt and charged at Merlin, who managed to move away just in time.

"Wait!"

Merlin tried to talk, but the man didn't listen to him. He was blinded by the sadness of losing his title and the hatred that he felt towards Merlin, and he didn't seem likely to stop despite anything. He charged at Merlin again and Merlin managed to duck, but he wasn't a skilled fighter. He couldn't avoid the dagger for much longer and he couldn't run away either because the man was blocking the only way out.

Oh, why did he choose such a narrow street?

"You don't deserve to stand next to him by the throne!" The man _shouted_. Good, now at least someone might notice them.

Merlin's back hit the wall behind him and the dagger landed just above his shoulder. He moved out of its way, but the man was quicker and fished out another dagger, preparing it on the other side.

It all happened in a second.

The moment Merlin's eyes registered the second dagger aiming at his head, his mind completely shut off and his instinct took over. The dagger stopped in mid-air, mere centimetres away from Merlin's right temple, and the man's eyes widened in horror as he stared into Merlin _gold_ eyes.

"Sorcerer . . . " he uttered, his hand still unable to move.

Merlin's heart was beating and his magic was still holding the man's dagger away from his face.

Then he heard loud steps.

"Hey! You! Stop!"

Merlin blinked, quickly ducked and the dagger hit the wall in the spot where his head had been mere seconds ago. The man prepared to strike again, but a strong hand gripped his forearm, stopping him.

Merlin looked up. It was Lancelot.

"What's happening here?" Lancelot asked, frowning at the man. "Merlin, are you okay?"

Merlin nodded – slowly, quietly, still in shock.

"Drop the daggers!"

The man dropped them. Lancelot took his arms behind his back and put handcuffs on his wrists.

"You attacked an unarmed citizen of Camelot. You're arreste-"

"He's a sorcerer!" The man shouted at Lancelot¨s face. "He used magic on me! He's enchanted the king to follow his orders, he's evil!"

Lancelot's eyes widened as he looked down at Merlin. Merlin just kept looking at him hopelessly and scared, asking himself one question: how did a nice day with a promise of an even better evening turn into such a disaster?

Merlin slowly stood up, swallowed and subtly nodded at Lancelot.

He knew what was going to happen now. He could see it in Lancelot's face - he was trying to apologize to Merlin because he had no control over what he now had to do. And Merlin accepted it. It should have happened so many years ago anyway.

"Merlin . . . "

"What are you waiting for!" The man hissed. "Arrest him!"

With a heavy heart, Lancelot took Merlin by his wrists gently and put another pair of shackles around them.

"Merlin, by the laws of Camelot, you are arrested for using magic."

xoXÖXox

It had been quite a busy day for Arthur so far. He had been working with the council all morning, preparing papers, signing them, discussing with them what he'd discussed with his most trusted knights just a few weeks ago – and that was the issue of bringing magic back into the kingdom and making it safe for everyone – both ordinary people and the druids and people like Merlin.

All his trusted knights – Leon, Gwaine, Lancelot, Elyan and Percival – had already been informed of Merlin's magic on a private meeting where they'd discussed the issue, and now he was working with the council, reading their reviewed versions of his suggested new laws.

It was a _lot _of work, but he knew it was worth it. Everything was worth it for Merlin's smile. That, and he also had a training session later in the day to look forward to, where he could actually talk to Merlin about the progress he had made with the council today.

They had made big progress – all the papers were already prepared and reviewed, and they were just two or so signatures away from officially legalizing magic in Camelot. Now the last question to answer was – _when_ was the best time to do that? And how should they prepare the people?

Just as Arthur sat down to reread the final version of the first of the laws that had been suggested to him by Merlin (obviously, they both had worked hard on all the laws), the door opened.

Arthur looked up to see Sir Leon's head peeking inside. "My lord."

"What is it?" Arthur asked.

Leon pursed his lips. "It's Sir Lancelot, my lord. He's bringing in two people for a trial . . . one of them is Merlin."

Arthur stared at him for a moment and then closed his eyes briefly, hiding his face in the palms of his hands. He sighed. What exactly did Merlin do this time?

"Bring them in," he finally decided and stood up, looking apologetically at all his council members, one of which was Gaius who seemed equally as confused as Arthur was.

Leon's head disappeared and when the door opened again, Lancelot came in. He was holding two people in shackles, one of them was Merlin and the other was . . . Sir Whatshisname? Arthur frowned. He didn't like where this was going, just last week he had been challenged by this knight and he won, and now he was causing trouble in the streets?

"My apologies," Arthur spoke to the council, "but don't worry, I believe this will not take much time."

He walked away from them to sit on the throne as his father used to do. He watched Merlin with unease as Lancelot brought him closer with the former knight.

"What happened?" Arthur asked, already bracing himself for what he was about to hear.

"I found this man in a back alley with Merlin. He was fighting him with two daggers while Merlin was unarmed."

Arthur didn't like this.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" The man turned to Lancelot. Then he looked at Merlin with hatred in his eyes and smirked up at Arthur. "The boy is a sorcerer! He was trying to kill me!"

"What? No, I wasn't! You attacked me first!" Merlin defended himself.

"Only because you-"

"Quiet!"

Arthur sighed.

He didn't like this one bit.

He glanced at Gaius, who seemed to have been thinking the same thing, and then he looked back at Merlin. He looked nervous and also apologetic. Arthur could only imagine how many times Merlin had dreamed about standing here, accused of magic, with fear consuming him. But at least it wasn't his father sitting on the throne.

What a bad timing, too! He and Merlin had been planning to reveal Merlin's magic to the council in the evening, and now _this_ happened.

Arthur had to take a deep breath.

"Merlin," he looked at him. "Tell me what happened."

The former knight frowned. "Of course he's the first to be asked-"

"I'm sorry, is your name Merlin?" Arthur asked the man, using his best authoritative voice that he could muster. Even Merlin looked taken aback but with a slight smirk at his lips.

The former knight shook his head and was quiet, and Arthur turned back to Merlin, giving him a nod to encourage him to talk.

"Well, I was on my way from the market, when I saw him standing on the street, just staring at me," Merlin started. "And I recognised him and didn't want to start a fight, so I turned back and went back towards the market, but he was following me. I turned the wrong way and found myself in an alley with a dead end, and well, then he attacked me, saying that I cost him his knighthood."

"You did!"

"Quiet!" Arthur frowned. "And then?"

Merlin pursed his lips. "We fought, and I wasn't armed, so I just kept avoiding his blows until one almost hit me and . . . well . . . I accidentally used magic to stop it."

"Accidentally?"

Literally everyone in the room looked at Merlin, who just shrugged as if it was common knowledge. "He was about to _kill_ me, I couldn't help it."

Arthur swallowed down the anger he felt towards the former knight when he realized that he'd almost _killed_ Merlin today, and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. How was he supposed to deal with this? They were so close to lifting the ban on magic, but it wasn't lifted yet and Merlin broke the law! According to the current laws of Camelot, he was supposed to be sentenced to death, but Arthur could never do that. He also couldn't forget the fact that the former knight attacked him first and was also awaiting punishment . . .

"And how do _you_ explain yourself?" Arthur turned to the former knight.

"He's the reason you stripped me of my title. He's got you under his thumb, my lord, I had to do something to save you and the kingdom. He's only bad influence."

Arthur stood up from the throne and went closer to them. "So, what you're trying to say is . . . you tried to kill my boyfriend because you don't like him and accuse him of controlling me – something of which you have no proof, and you blame him for something you brought upon yourself. As I remember it, you were the one who challenged me, you agreed to the rules and you lost. Or was that not what happened, Sir Lancelot?"

"Yes, my lord," Lancelot nodded.

"Thank you." Arthur turned to the former knight again. "There are over two dozens of knights who agree with Sir Lancelot. Merlin never was and isn't the reason why I chose to debase you. I chose to do so because you cannot be trusted, so if you're going to blame anyone, blame yourself."

"But-"

"I've already taken away your knighthood, and I don't wish to do anything else. So consider this your warning. Do not attack Merlin or anyone else in my city again, or you will suffer the consequences."

The former knight stared at him, then at Merlin, and finally at Arthur again. Then he frowned but bowed his head. "Yes, my lord."

"Lancelot," Arthur commanded, "he'll spend the night in the dungeons, release him in the morning and let him go home."

"My lord," Lancelot nodded and tugged at the man's shackles to drag him away.

He protested though and didn't move. "But what about the sorcerer? He's been lying to you, my lord, just as I told you! You may choose to love him, but he might as well have you under a love spell!"

"I don't-"

"Merlin," Arthur stopped him before he could say anything that he'd regret. Merlin closed his mouth and waited for Arthur to say anything. All the members of the council looked at him and did the same.

Arthur swallowed.

"Gaius," he spoke to his most trusted adviser without looking at him. "How far are we from lifting the ban on magic again?"

Gaius raised his eyebrow in an amused way. "Just two more signatures, my lord."

Arthur smiled, still staring at the former knight. "Excellent."

He went over to the table with all the papers again and picked up a quill. He moistened it in the inkwell and signed the two remaining papers that separated him from his desired future. When he was done, he smiled and looked up at the former knight again.

"You seem to be late," he told him. "You see, we've all been planning to lift the ban on magic for weeks, and you would have known that, had you stayed loyal and a knight."

"You can't-"

"Merlin," Arthur went over to him, happy to see a proud grin on his face. "You've been found guilty of breaking the old laws of Camelot, but according to the new laws, you did nothing wrong. You only defended yourself, correct?"

"Yeah, I stopped the dagger from killing me."

"Well, there you have it," Arthur smiled at him. "Nothing wrong." Merlin grinned. "But you did break the old laws, and I can't turn a blind eye to that." Merlin's grin wavered. "You'll also spend one night in the dungeons, but you'll be released in the morning, don't worry."

"But the training session!" Merlin protested.

Arthur put his hand on Merlin's shoulder. "There will be many more training sessions to come, you'll just have to miss this one, sorry."

Merlin sighed, but Arthur could see that he understood. He was the king, and these decisions didn't come lightly to him. But there had to be decisions, and in terms of breaking the law, he let both Merlin and the former knight off easy.

Arthur leaned in and kissed Merlin, just for good measure, and then waved at Lancelot.

Lancelot took Merlin and the former knight out of the room and led them to the dungeons, where they would both spend the night, each in a different cell far away from each other, preferably in a different part of the castle, too.

Once they were gone, Arthur turned back to the council, apologized again, explained that he already knew about Merlin's magic and was planning to tell them that evening, and was surprised when several members of the council told him they'd already suspected.

Now the only thing he needed to do was inform the people. He hoped it would go well.

And then, after the training session, Arthur paid Merlin a visit and spent several hours with him in the cell because, well, because it wasn't really Merlin's fault that he was there and because Arthur loved him and wanted to tell him all about the training session to make up for what Merlin had missed out.

And if both Arthur and Merlin lost a few items of clothing during all the talking, it was only a good thing that all the other cells were empty and that Arthur was the king and had made sure that no one would disturb them.

*the end*

**I was going to give the former knight a name, but he doesn't deserve it :D Anyway, the last chapter will come out on Thursday! You'll definitely like that one! :D Thanks for reading! :)**


	10. Prompt Day 9 - May 30th

**It's here! The last fanfic of this series! This one's all about the happy future of Camelot, where Arthur never dies. Again, it can be viewed as a continuation of all previous fanfics in this series, or as a standalone. Enjoy! ;)**

PROMPT DAY 9  
Path 1 - Days and/or Nights  
Path 2 - Emotion/Mood/Aesthetic: Poetic  
Path 3 - Things to hide / Things to reveal

**\- prompts used:** things to hide / things to reveal

\- **SUMMARY - **The long-awaited future is finally here - Camelot is flourishing, the people are happy, the time of the once and future king and Emrys has come. Still, there's one thing left to do before everything is _perfect. _Aka, Merlin plans to propose to Arthur :)

**...**

**The Golden Age**

**...**

Merlin breathed in and breathed out, closing his eyes. The summer breeze played with his hair and made him smile. The harvest was good, best in the last five years in fact, the day was sunny and all patrols returned home with good news.

Life was good.

It truly was.

He was standing in the tallest tower of Camelot, alone, gazing at the kingdom that he and Arthur had built together on mutual trust and loyalty of their knights and people. He could hear children laughing in the streets, even from all the way up here.

Merlin was no servant anymore. He still spent most of his days with Arthur of course and nothing much changed between them, except that Merlin no longer had to wash all his dirty socks and muck out the stables. Ever since magic was legalized in Camelot again, he'd been appointed as the court sorcerer, but that wasn't all he was – he was also a teacher, helping sorcerers of all ages come to terms with their powers and help them control it in a safe environment. He was still a skilled physician and he helped Gaius from time to time (although they'd also already found a new apprentice for Gaius because Merlin couldn't possibly handle so much work alone).

Gwen was a lady, and Lancelot was lucky to have her as his wife. They were both very happy together and they lived in the castle. Even Morgana came back once she saw what Camelot had become and that she'd been wrong about Arthur. She was now the official High Priestess of Camelot, along with Merlin taking care of new sorcerers and sorceresses, helping them and teaching them. The library was also filled with new, previously forbidden books, and both of them liked to read them and study them together, in order to become better in teaching magic. It was good to see Morgana smile again, especially when Aithusa was there with them, healthy and happy and growing fast.

Arthur was the king, and he was doing a good job. He always made sure to hear all the opinions in the room before making decisions, listening to all the advice from his friends and the council. Merlin was proud of him. He truly deserved the title of the once and future king.

Merlin smiled.

Camelot had finally become what he'd always knew it could become. The golden age was here.

Now, there was only one thing, one little thing, worrying him. He pursed his lips and reached into his pocket, finding an old silver-gold ring. He put his both hands on the stone wall in front of him and left the ring there, inspecting it for the umpteenth time.

It was meant for Arthur. Obviously. But there was something keeping Merlin from giving it to him and asking him for marriage.

First, he was _nervous _as hell. He had absolutely no experience whatsoever, which was why he'd gone to Lancelot for help, but it didn't help much. Another thing, the more important thing was . . . He wasn't sure if asking Arthur was the best thing.

Yes, he loved him, and he knew that Arthur loved him too, but . . . asking the _king _for his hand in marriage felt like he was asking for the power. Like he was telling the king "_hey, I really want to be a king too, so let's kiss and gimme the crown,_" and Merlin didn't want that. He'd want to marry Arthur even if he was just a poor commoner and not a king. But Arthur _was_ a king, and Merlin didn't know if there were any rules in these sorts of things. Maybe it should be Arthur proposing to _him_. That way, he wouldn't be seen as asking for any power because Merlin didn't have more power in the kingdom than Arthur already did.

Merlin let out a loud sigh.

Even thinking about this, about his _married _life was ridiculous. He'd never thought he'd get married, he'd never even thought about that at all.

And now he was standing here, in the tallest tower of the castle, waiting for Arthur who'd asked him to come there and for what? For Arthur to be late? For him to have endless doubts about his proposal? For him to start sweating like crazy from all the nervousness whenever in Arthur's company? For him to continuously hold onto the ring in his pocket until he accidentally took it out together with his hand and ruined the moment forever? For-

"A frown never suited you, Merlin, and especially not on such a nice day."

Merlin turned around, startled, but once he saw Arthur, he let out a sigh he hadn't realized he'd been holding. The sigh turned into a laugh as Arthur smiled at him and approached him.

"Arthur."

Now, Merlin was breathless. Again, he was fidgeting with the ring inside his pocket, unconsciously, and Arthur was just standing there with his big bright smile, golden hair glistening in the sun, silver chainmail on his chest and back covered in a freshly washed red cloak.

Merlin smiled at him.

"You're late," he said.

"Don't blame me, you know what a busy life it is to be the king."

Merlin smirked at him, turning back to gaze at the city, Arthur now standing by his side. "No, in fact, I don't know. I'm not the king."

Arthur didn't answer.

Merlin turned to look at him and saw him biting his lip. He seemed nervous. But Merlin doubted he could be more nervous than Merlin already was whenever he was near him with the ring in his pocket.

"What is it?" he asked.

Arthur covered his hand with his own on the stone wall. "Nothing to worry about."

"You can talk to me, Arthur."

Arthur smiled. "I know."

He turned to Merlin and brought his hand closer to his lips, kissing his knuckles. He didn't do that often, now Merlin was getting worried about a whole lot of different reasons.

But he waited for Arthur to say what he needed to say. He'd tell him once he was ready.

"How long have we been together?" The king asked him. Merlin frowned slightly, confused.

"Um, about three years now."

"Yes, three years."

Arthur didn't let go of his hand and Merlin got so lost in his worries about what had happened and what Arthur wasn't telling him, that he'd completely forgotten about the ring in his pocket.

"Well, after three years, I think it's time for a change," Arthur finally said.

Merlin swallowed. What did Arthur have in mind? Did he want to break up with him? No, he wouldn't be holding his hand like this and looking at him like _that_, if that was what he wanted to do. Did he want him back as his manservant and find someone else to fill the role of the court sorcerer? There was plenty of very talented druids to choose from and-

"Merlin?" Arthur frowned. "I can see there's probably a million questions in your head right now, so let me give you an answer."

Arthur . . . knelt down.

Merlin's eyes widened and all the questions in his mind collectively disappeared - all but one.

They were still holding hands. Arthur reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold-silver ring, similar to the one in Merlin's pocket, and he showed it to him.

"Merlin, I love you with all my heart. I'm grateful to call you my best friend and my boyfriend and I'm grateful for the kingdom you've helped me build. There's only one thing missing from Camelot being perfect."

Merlin's eyes were wet now, all his worries gone and only one word on his mind - _yes._

"And that's you, right by my side, ruling it."

Merlin laughed.

"Merlin Emrys, will you marry me?"

Merlin laughed again, his tears spilling and he let go of Arthur's hand. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his own prepared ring. "But I've got the same question for you."

Arthur's mouth was agape as he stared at him and at the ring in Merlin's hand. He let out a laugh and soon they were both laughing, both kneeling in the highest tower of Camelot.

Arthur nodded. "Yes."

"In that case," Merlin took Arthur's finger and slid the ring on it. "Yes."

Arthur did the same to him and seconds later, they were already embracing each other, each pulling the other even closer, both smiling with tears in their eyes.

They kissed and hugged again, not believing that it took them _so long_ to finally get this sorted, but both glad that it was finally done and that soon they could start planning a wedding together.

Merlin breathed in and breathed out, closing his eyes. The summer breeze continued to play with his hair as he hid his smile into Arthur's neck. Camelot would soon have two very happy kings, ruling side by side.

The golden age was here. Life was good.

It truly was.

*THE END*

**So that's it! This month is almost over and that means that this series is ending. I had a lot of fun, so I'll probably participate again next year. The only problem for me were the exams, two of which I've already failed :D :D (I'm signed up for a resit, don't worry.)**

**I hope you enjoyed at least some of the fanfics if not all!**

**Another little update for my Merlin fanfics - I've got some new ideas for longer ones, and I'd like to write at least one of them in the summer. Sadly, I won't be participating in After Camlann Big Bang this year due to exams and no time to write before the deadline, but I can always try to make some art for my fanfics myself, in which case, the art would be available on ao3 (and deviantart, I guess). I plan to participate next year though, with one of the ideas for a long fanfic. (How does a king!Merlin sound?) :D But no promises! Anything can happen.**

**Anyway, thanks for sticking with me! :) And have a nice day!**


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